Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 74
Chapter 74. Guess What? (2)
“Then… should we get going?”
“Yeah.”
After two hours, Kang Hajin and Ji Suho finally stepped out of the private room. Suho silently thanked himself for booking three hours. Hajin’s plan hadn’t been neat or airtight—it was instinctive, almost reckless. If one piece shifted wrong, everything could twist out of control.
“…When are you moving?”
“Not sure yet. You’ll need time to prep. And I’ve got things to check.”
“Then we update each other as we go.”
“Yeah.”
Suho had decided something important in that room: he would stop digging into Hajin’s shadows unless Hajin chose to show them.
“I have to head straight to the company, so I can’t drive you.”
“It’s fine. I’m not Dan Haru.”
“It’s not because you’re a kid. It’s because you’re my artist.”
From here on, Suho would treat him like one.
And that meant dropping honorifics completely.
“Are you actually doing it now?”
“Yeah. No more formal speech. Same treatment as the others.”
“…You weren’t already?”
Suho looked at him carefully.
A boy who had lived multiple lives.
A boy who had never debuted in any of them.
A boy emitting a white light Suho had never seen before.
“Keep your face covered. Avoid crowded areas.”
“You’re switching into manager mode fast. I’m still just a trainee.”
“…Hajin. You haven’t watched your team’s video yet, have you?”
“……”
“Watch it on the way. And wear a hood and a mask.”
After that, Suho left.
Hajin stood there scratching the back of his head.
How did he know?
He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and started walking toward the subway.
No destination.
Just moving.
Pulling out his phone was pure instinct.
He hated being bored.
He told himself he was just killing time.
“Ahem.”
He stopped mid-sidewalk.
Lowered the phone.
Raised it again.
“…Ahhh!”
With a frustrated noise, he opened iTube.
“Ridiculous.”
He typed:
Miro Maze Performance B
It took him embarrassingly long to press Enter.
But curiosity won.
He squeezed his eyes shut after pressing it.
Then opened them slowly.
“…Oh.”
The thumbnail.
His face.
Just him.
“…Me? Only me?”
B Team’s thumbnail was exclusively Kang Hajin.
Like he was possessed, he tapped it.
MIRO MAZE ∥ Daylight(日光) (Prod. Seo Tae-il) – B Team Performance Video
Views: 573,165
Comments: 1,872
Anyone here to see Hood Oppa in real life?
Hajin debut already
Is there no individual fancam??
That center is actually really good
Everyone’s good but one person dominates
Isn’t he only a 3-month trainee??
Kang Hajin you’re my last K-pop
He stood frozen on the sidewalk.
Not every comment was praise.
Not every comment mentioned him.
But still—
“….”
For the first time in an unbearably long time—
He was being acknowledged.
[System Alert: The regressor’s condition stabilizes due to “public recognition.”]
[System Alert: “Wandering and Drifting” mode reduced by 10%… (Loading)]
[System Alert: “Public fondness” converted into cash.]
“So it works.”
The truth was, Hajin had never treated his results as real achievements.
Because of his first life.
Because of regression.
Because everything could disappear.
Do only what you’re paid for.
Give only what you’ll get back.
He had drawn that line to survive.
He didn’t want to love something again and lose it.
One regression—
and everything becomes nothing.
So he refused to attach meaning.
Monthly eval? Still tenth.
Title song mission? A Team was better.
Second mission? Maybe Sarin’s bias.
He kept bracing for the moment his limits would show.
I don’t want to be told I’m nothing.
“…What’s wrong with me?”
The tears came suddenly.
Heavy.
Embarrassing.
He wiped at them, but they wouldn’t stop.
“What is this… pathetic.”
People glanced over.
He didn’t care.
[System Alert: The system gifts the regressor a small message.]
Voices played in his ears.
His live volume is insane.
Dance break center → third verse chorus → zero breath shake??
Hajin’s tone is smooth and solid… my type.
That chorus only works when he sings it.
Finger details?? He hits every single one clean.
[System Alert: Yesterday… I was too curious and looked it up!]
Thirteen.
Digging through comments on his own.
Converting text into voice because Hajin couldn’t see through tears.
“…You little—Thirteen….”
[System Notice: Th-the system is confused because wasn’t this supposed to be touching;;;]
That warmth.
That casual affection.
It shattered him.
Right there, outside the subway station, Kang Hajin squatted down and cried.
“Ah—what the hell is this.”
Only then did he admit it.
He had never escaped the square little room of his twenty-nine-year-old self.
The unemployed, drifting version.
The one afraid of being nothing.
“…This is disgusting.”
He was starving.
Starving for recognition.
For proof.
For certainty that he wasn’t wasting another life.
He wanted—
desperately—
to love what he was doing.
[System Notice: “Kang Hajin” gains an epiphany.]
[System Notice: Epiphany strongly affects quest progress.]
[System Alert: “Wandering and Drifting” mode reduced by 10%…]
[System Alert: Reduced by 10%…]
[System Alert: Reduced by 10%…]
[System Alert: “Wandering and Drifting” mode disabled. (Current: 48%)]
Hajin blinked through tears.
Then—
the final window appeared.
[System Alert: “Kang Hajin” reacts to you. (Reaction Rate: 100%)]
[“Kang Hajin” can be recruited.]
Recruit? (Y/N)